“Huh,” Amber said. “You seem to have a pretty good group of friends who are still around.”
“Yeah,” Aaron said. “We do, for sure, but there are tons of people who I haven’t seen in years.”
Ahead, Nick put on his signal and slowed for a turn.
“Huh,” Aaron said.
Amber glanced at him as she followed Nick down the side road.
“What?”
“This isn’t the most direct way to Nick’s house. I’m not sure why Riley would have gone this way unless…”
“Unless it really was a prank?” Amber asked.
“Or maybe he just wanted to avoid that stretch of torn up road ahead. I don’t know. It is a little fishy.”
“This is the way I came,” Amber said. “We’re headed in the direction of my uncle’s house, I think.”
“And you’re not in on it,” Aaron said. It sounded more like a statement than a question, but Amber answered anyway.
“No, I’m not. I only talked to Riley for a few minutes tonight and then Melissa and Stephanie showed up.”
“Sorry about that,” Aaron said.
Amber glanced over and smiled. “Why is that?”
“Those two can get a little wild when they hang out at gatherings.”
“They seemed perfectly nice,” Amber said.
After a couple more turns, they saw Nick flash his brake lights.
“I think they want us to pull over here,” Aaron said.
His phone rang a second later.
# # #
“Yeah,” Aaron said. “Okay.”
He put his phone back in his pocket.
“They’re pulling up to the tracks. We’re going to wait here while they take a look around,” Aaron said.
Amber pulled over to the side of the road, but made sure to keep all four tires on pavement. Then, she shut off her vehicle and opened her door.
“What are you…” Aaron started to ask.
She cut him off. “I didn’t come to wait around. I want to see what’s going on.”
“Yeah. Okay,” he said.
She got out and headed to the rear of the car. By the time Aaron had joined her, she was handing him a flashlight and a wooden pole. He studied it in the beam of the flashlight. It looked like the handle of a sledge hammer or pickaxe. The end had been sharpened to a point.
“What’s this for?”
“Just carry it and hopefully you won’t need it,” she said.
Reaching up, she clicked on a headlamp that she had strapped over her knit hat. Next, she pulled out a big bag. Aaron watched as she moved a couple of feet away from the car and started to use the contents of the bag to make a line of powder on the pavement. He followed with the flashlight as she circled the car.
“It’s Borax,” she said before he could ask. Amber circled the car with the stuff and then put the bag back in her trunk. She had her own handheld flashlight and another sharpened pole that she outfitted herself with before she closed the trunk.
“Ready?” she asked.
“I guess,” Aaron said. “Are you going to tell me what you expect to find?”
Snow started to fall in the beams of their flashlights.
“I tell you what—if we find it, you’ll know.”
She started to walk in the direction of the other vehicle and Aaron jumped over the line of Borax then jogged to catch up.
“Jennifer said you were interesting,” Aaron said. “I think that was a bit of an understatement.”
“I’m just careful,” Amber said. “Is that the train signal? I thought he said that the lights were on.”
“He did say that. He also said that it was malfunctioning because the lights were flashing but the gate wasn’t down. I guess it fixed itself. Maybe a train came through and the sensors reset or something.”
“For your friend’s sake, I hope not. If he was still on the tracks…”
“That’s a terrible notion,” Aaron said.
“You’re right. I guess I have a bit of a pessimistic streak. I’m sure Riley is fine.”
Up ahead, at the train tracks, they saw a single flashlight beam sweeping around. Ricky and Nick were calling out into the night. They were yelling Riley’s name and then pausing to hear any response.
Ricky turned his light at the approach of Amber and Aaron.
As they drew near, Ricky said, “I thought you were going to stay put.”
Amber ignored him and went to Nick.
“Where did you see him last?”
Nick pointed down the tracks into the darkness.
She took the lead, keeping her flashlight pointed straight ahead while she swept her headlamp from side to side as she scanned the woods that flanked the train tracks.
“Wait,” Ricky said.
They all froze. Ricky moved to the front of the pack and crouched down to shine his flashlight down the rail.
“I thought I saw something,” Ricky said, pointing. “Down there. Must have just been a shadow. It’s too bad the snow isn’t sticking to the ground. We could follow his tracks.”
“Yeah,” Nick said. “And too bad he came out here at all. I don’t know what he was thinking. He must have been following the light.”
“You said it was hypnotic, right?” Amber asked.
“Yes—that’s what I thought at the time. I was scared, I guess. Seeing things,” Nick said.
“Just in case,” Amber said. “If anyone sees a light that’s not from one of us, try not to look directly at it.”
“Why?” Ricky asked.
“In case it really is hypnotic.”
They all looked at her for a second and then Ricky turned to continue their path down the tracks. They moved slowly, staying right between the rails and scanning either side of the track for any signs of Riley or the animals that Nick had reported.
“I think it must have been about here,” Nick said, glancing back towards the train tracks.
Aaron turned his flashlight in that direction. It reflected off the car in the distance. Meanwhile, Ricky was crouching, looking at the gravel packed between the railroad ties. Amber kept her gaze up, watching the woods on either side of them.
Ricky touched a finger to one of the stained timbers that the tracks were secured to. He
